Qualitative Change

May 28, 1998, sunny. Reading at the hotel.

May 29, 1998, rainy. Reading at the hotel.

"Lu PingAn, Lu PingAn! How could you be so diligent? Have you forgotten the plan to slack off and lie flat that you made before? The Master said, 'I examine myself thrice daily.' This can't go on!"

May 30, 1998, sunny. Reading at the hotel.

Xia Qin, the one assigned to watch him, was far too busy, so Lu PingAn wrote this surveillance journal himself.

But he really had nothing much to write. For three straight days, he had not gone out, merely staying in the hotel and reading obediently.

As an examinee, it was only natural for him to prepare for the college entrance exams that were just a week away. Of course, the real him was not quite so obedient.

"If I really had to write a diary, it would probably go: eat the breakfast Cat Cat brought over in the morning, go inside to tease Big Cat and farm, eat the lunch Cat Cat brought over at noon, pet Big Cat in the afternoon and practice at the gym, eat the dinner Cat Cat brought over in the evening, then arrange Big Cat's work for tomorrow... Uh, looking at it this way, am I being a bit excessive?"

With the watcher gone, he could devote most of his time to his secret realm.

As long as he locked the door and tossed the "key" under the bed, no one could find him. Once inside, Lu PingAn could sense what was happening around the key.

The only problem was that there was no phone signal or internet inside. Coming out to a pile of missed calls every time would draw suspicious looks.

As for the unlucky Cat Cat, Lu PingAn was currently on high alert and restricted from going out. It was best for the people he came into contact with to be trusted insiders, so having Cat Cat deliver his three meals had actually been her brother's idea.

Nobody was stupid these days. Pollution would not vanish into thin air. A treasure as great as Chris was simply gone, while Lu PingAn's cancer had suddenly disappeared as well. Naturally, he was the first suspect.

As for the Sophist and the like, once they figured out what exactly had happened that day, it was only a matter of time before they came knocking.

It seemed the Special Task Force had already requested reinforcements from above, but when they would arrive and whether they would be useful were both unknown. Before the Sophist was found, Lu PingAn had better not go out casually and add more pressure to the police.

"Then what about my college entrance exams?"

"It's fine. They'll be held in the secret realm at Gu City University. After you finish, you can move straight into the student dorms."

Lu PingAn himself did not really care. Even without those warnings, he had not planned on leaving the hotel these past few days.

Today marked a full week since he had gained a new life. These three days had been days of settling down, days in which his accumulated progress had undergone a qualitative change.

More importantly, they had been three days of being alone with a certain cat and trying to improve their relationship.

The hunting hounds outside had allowed the two, who had effectively shared life and death, to reach a "verbal reconciliation" at the fastest possible speed.

Once Lu PingAn acted a little more like a human, Big Cat's fur was smoothed out considerably as well.

Now that Big Cat was willing to communicate, while being thoroughly pestered by Lu PingAn, she had also corrected many of his mistaken pieces of "common sense."

"...So the Forest Goddess Church didn't rip me off. There's a reason it costs so much."

Previously, a bag of magical plants had cost a full hundred Credit Coins. Lu PingAn had been somewhat displeased, feeling as though they were running a monopoly.

After all, ten Touch-Me-Not Mines, also Tier 1 magical plants, cost only one hundred yuan—about one Credit Coin.

It was only after he had truly followed Big Cat around and farmed for two days that he realized the two were completely different matters.

"This stuff is really hard to handle. Even with every condition in place, it would probably still take ten days or half a month of failures."

What the Credit Coins bought was not merely a bag of seeds, but the accompanying "instruction manual."

Just as that gardener girl had said, "Knowledge is power." Knowledge regarding taboos was even more expensive than the taboos themselves.

After ruining—after failing to tend several magical plants, Lu PingAn's Profession Skill Planting (Taboo) finally gained a single point of experience. He was so excited he nearly lost his mind. Then that same day, the gardener sister shared over fifty points with him.

After thinking it over repeatedly, considering that magical plants were rather expensive and troublesome to replenish, he chose to become an armchair player—an armchair farmer.

He watched Big Cat farm while babbling beside her. Occasionally, he would snatch the work away and try it himself, only to kill another magical plant. Let us spare a little sympathy for poor Big Cat here. If not for the limitations of the contract, she would have slapped him to death long ago.

Yet through this process, with someone finally there to guide him, Lu PingAn truly learned many things and gained a systematic understanding of "the professional system of the polluted."

"I originally thought that supernatural profession abilities were the most important thing, the core of a profession. But looking back now, Profession Skills—the profession techniques that served as the prerequisite for those 'superpowers'—are the true core."

Ninety percent of a Gardener's power lay in magical plants. To grow magical plants well required sufficient knowledge and cultivation techniques. That was the root reason "knowledge" was so expensive; Touch-Me-Not Mines that came with only seeds could not compare at all.

If not for Lu PingAn's ability, even if those casually included seeds were planted, he would most likely harvest nothing but a pile of duds.

The Forest Goddess Church had been quite generous. The "knowledge" they provided was a complete set, including not only how to plant and cultivate them, but also analyses and reconstruction models for their genetic modules.

Though Lu PingAn could not understand it yet, to an experienced Gardener, it meant the magical plant's genetic lock had been opened. They could use "grafting" or higher-tier abilities to modify it further.

"Only when the two foundational Profession Skills of 'planting' and 'grafting' are raised can one use and modify higher-tier magical plants. Profession Skills are the foundation of a profession's strength."

If that had merely been a guess, then as Lu PingAn's studies progressed, more and more facts confirmed his suspicion.

For example, the outrageously expensive buildings in the secret realm were primarily used to speed up improvement and training in the foundational techniques of each profession, rather than the costly and bizarre supernatural abilities.

For example, what his ability prioritized when dividing rewards was the Profession Skills of each profession.

"Are Profession Skills more important than profession abilities?"

With a cat around, naturally he asked.

When it came to guidance on this broad path, Chris did not spout nonsense casually.

"You can't say which is more important. They're one whole. I said before that Runners were trash because their cost-performance ratio is low. Their space-type profession ability is indeed useful, but look at their Profession Skills. Is running faster useful? Sure. But is it worth investing so much? Their overall returns are far inferior to Gardeners, Beast Tamers, and the like."

Lu PingAn suddenly understood. This was a disagreement caused by differing perspectives.

He had been staring at the useful "abilities," treating the prerequisite "Profession Skills" as merely transitional, while she viewed the matter more comprehensively.

Profession Skills required time to hone and accumulate. Under normal circumstances, it was impossible to hold too many professions at once, so investments had to take cost-effectiveness into account.

Compared to "running faster," a Gardener's ability to "use and modify stronger magical plants" clearly had a higher return on investment, greater prospects, and was more worthy of being the primary path for resources.

"At lower tiers, laying a solid foundation is what matters most. Abilities merely give you a way to burst forth. The foundation of power required for that burst still comes from those Profession Skills."

"In that regard, look at Xia Qin. By Life Bank's standards, her fist techniques and gun techniques are at least level 20, while her sword techniques may have reached level 30. Give her a means to unleash everything at once, and she could easily kill a so-called Tier 3 in seconds. Maybe even a Tier 4."

Now Lu PingAn fully understood. Then, an unexpected development during the reward-sharing on the third day made his own path even clearer.

Light Chasing Running Method LV UP! Current LV4, 3/100

Congratulations, Host. Through arduous training and refinement, you have successfully broken through a bottleneck. Physique slightly increased. Reflexes slightly increased.

What? Arduous training? A bottleneck? Where?

A surge of warmth suddenly appeared within his body, coming quickly and leaving just as quickly. Yet Lu PingAn felt comfortable all over, as if he had just stepped out of a hot bath.

The panel still had not changed—Mortal—but he could feel that his body had improved and his reactions had become slightly faster.

But this was only the beginning.

'Light Chasing Running Method' has entered the branching stage. Please choose a specialization evolution direction.

A. Endurance direction: Increases the Host's running endurance and also increases the Host's physique.

B. Explosive power direction: Increases the Host's short-range explosive power, with a focus on enhancing the strength aspect of physique.

C. Agility (Acrobatics) direction: Increases the Host's sense of balance while moving and greatly increases reflexes.

The three directions were simple and clear, but it seemed he could not have them all.

This time, it seemed he could not choose casually.

When it came to matters involving improvement, asking Big Cat generally yielded a fairly reliable answer. Lu PingAn asked, but her response was rather subtle.

"This ability can even analyze the branches of Profession Skills? That's too powerful. It depends on how you position your role."

"My role?"

Lu PingAn had truly never considered that. Did he need to run longer? Did he need better explosive power? Or did he need to be more agile, running along walls like Spider-Man?

"Since there are only three options, I choose B."

There was nothing to hesitate over. Endurance did not suit Lu PingAn, and he had no interest in agility or acrobatics. Explosive power, on the other hand, was useful in many situations and across many profession systems.

After making his choice, however, he felt no change at all.

Only the running method entry on the System Panel changed to "Light Chasing Running Method (Thunderstorm Direction)."

"It only changes your direction of progress. Under normal circumstances, you would need targeted, intensive training to improve it. But your system keeps you on the path you choose, allowing you to improve steadily as long as you accumulate enough."

Chris's expression grew increasingly subtle. The ever-brightening green glow of envy in her eyes made Lu PingAn worry that one day, while he was asleep, she might suddenly take a bite out of him.

And the Light Chasing Running Method breaking through to LV4 also meant that another Profession Skill, Breathing Method, was not far behind.

Once both of the Runner's Profession Skills reached the LV4 baseline, Lu PingAn would be only one step away from the profession ability, Ground Shrinking.

"What's left is really just Space Perception LV1. That shouldn't be much of a problem."

He was somewhat excited. Obtaining a true profession ability would mean he had become a Tier 1 Professional.

But before that, on the fourth day, he had to go out.

There was only one week left until the "college entrance exams." He had to report to the examination site in advance and complete the final confirmation.

"Cat Cat, let's go check out the examination site together tomorrow. Remember to bring my lunch and dinner."